Paytm shares 75% Plunge in a decade

Paytm’s 75% slump is worlds worst for large IPOs in a decade. One 97 Communications Ltd., the operator of India’s largest digital-payments provider known as Paytm, has capped the worst first-year share plunge among large IPOs over the past decade and the pain is worsening. 

The company, whose founder compared its challenges to those faced by Tesla Inc. shortly after the listing, has seen its stock erase 75 per cent of its market value one year after its $2.4 billion offering, the largest on record at the time in India.
 
The dive is the steepest first-year slide globally among IPOs that raised at least the same amount since Spain’s Bankia SA’s 82 per cent drop in 2012, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
 
Paytm’s grim first anniversary underscores an erosion of confidence in its ability to become profitable after debuting at a time when India’s IPO market was enamored with tech startups. It’s one among a slew of startups that listed with valuations seen by many as exaggerated.
 
The stock’s losses have deepened this week amid concerns over the emergence of a potential competitor owned by India’s biggest conglomerate.
 
Last week, Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. sold shares it held in Paytm as a lock-up period set in the IPO expired, fueling a three-day slide.